


Retrieval

by CityEscape4



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Child slavery, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Slave Trade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-17 10:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15459093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CityEscape4/pseuds/CityEscape4
Summary: After a successful day of nabbing elven children to sell into the slave trade, a group of slavers realize that maybe they should have left the one elf child they found in Hightown.





	Retrieval

**Author's Note:**

> A drabble based on an [idea](http://cityescape4.tumblr.com/post/158745728654/what-if-hawke-and-fenris-ever-had-a-kid-in) I had years ago. (Plus I’ve been playing through DA2 again and I just… *clenches fist* love me some fenhawke)
> 
> Warnings: mentions of violence, blood, slavery

The clamor of boots and armor shaking under the weight and pressure of running disrupted the rare peace as midnight set in the docks of Kirkwall, a couple of slavers running back toward their base from the red light district of Hightown.

The two slavers hurriedly rushed inside, only to be greeted by the sour expression of another slaver.

“Oi, Brizbin?” The tall, bald man grimaced and glared at one of the three, a blonde, scruffy, bowl-legged man with a scar above his left brow. “What the _fuck_ do you and Calloway think you lot are doin’, burstin’ in here like the Knight-Commander herself’s chasin’ ya from beyond the grave?”

The slaver named Brizbin’s green eyes widened, his head shaking somewhat. “S-Solomon! The boys and I were down by the Bloomin’ Lotus, and we overheard the Champion’s uncle himself that Hawke and her posse are comin’ for us!”

“What? Why specifically us?” Solomon, brute as he was, knew what that entire group, let alone the Champion, was capable of.

“Cuz of one of the children we nabbed this morning!” Calloway spoke up this time, his hands shaking despite his efforts to remain calm. “Someone musta paid Hawke good money or somethin’ to get the brat back!”

All three men looked over in the corner at a small cage, separate from all the others, where an elven child no more than 3 years old had curled up into a ball, her brown eyes red from crying, her tears and sweat matting down her white bangs. She trembled under the gaze of the three men, sniffling as she threatened to start crying again.

“Oi, I told you,” Solomon snapped, glaring dirtily at the young girl, “that if you keep crying I’d gut you and toss you in the ocean, didn’t I?” It was an empty threat, after all, since they couldn’t risk damaging their cargo and losing out on good coin these future slaves would bring. But as far as their newest acquisition was concerned, he was telling the truth.

The child whimpered at that, nodding and curling in on herself tighter, a hiccup escaping her as she tried to blink away any tears.

“That’s better,” Solomon murmured threateningly, before rolling his eyes and looking back at his underlings. “Bloody knife-ears. Now, why in Andraste’s name would Hawke and her entourage care about some Alienage brat?” Calloway and Brizbin exchanged glances at that, causing Solomon to frown. “I asked you lot a question.”

“W-Well…” Calloway began, stuttering as he ran a hand through his short red hair. “W-We, uh…. _Wedidn'texactlygetthechildfromtheAlienage.”_

“Excuse me?”

“What Cal means to say–” Brizbin interjected, smiling sheepishly, “–is that we actually nabbed that kid outta Hightown! She was was out with an Elven woman and a couple of dwarves while at the market, and we figured no one in Hightown would care about a missing slave child!” As Brizbin spoke, Solomon’s scowl deepened and deepened, sneering menacingly. “We figured we could charge the buyer extra for this one, since its got to have been raised a slave if its an elf child in Hightown!”

“You _IDIOTS!”_ Calloway, Brizbin, and the elven child all flinched at Solomon’s sudden volume change. “Of course someone’s going to care about a brat gone missing in Hightown, even if it IS an elven one! Them rich folk probably count their slaves every morning and night to make sure none of ‘em’s run off or somethin’! And now you’ve taken one of the brats? No wonder Hawke would be coming after us; those Hightown folk offer good money!”

No sooner than he finished speaking did a faint scream ring out in the night, followed quickly by a vicious roar that shook them very cores.

“T-That sounded close…”

“You fuckers.” Solomon cursed and began grabbing his armor and weapons, preparing himself to fight. “Grab some armor, keep your weapons handy, and start moving the brats to our secondary location. **_Don’t_**  fuck this up.”

Met with no arguement, the three men began to work at moving the children out.

* * *

Blood splattered the side of Aveline Vallen's cheek as Hawke flung one of her knives at a slaver that was coming up on the redhead's blindspot. On a normal mission Hawke would have scoffed and made a snarky - though friendly - comment to Aveline, and Aveline would have returned in kind, but this was no normal 'mission'. She merely exchanged a nod with the rogue as thanks once the slaver was taken care of, tossing the knife back at her to catch.

Admittedly when Hawke came to her asking for help, Aveline was briefly, momentarily confused, wondering why Hawke was so worried about her late mother Leandra and some slavers. Slavers were understandable enough, but Leandra, years after her death? When it finally clicked what Hawke was saying Aveline agreed without any hesitation to help.

A roar of anger snapped Aveline out of her thoughts, a light glowing from Fenris as he reached into a man's chest and ripped his heart out. She watched as Hawke ran over to him to back him up - the former slave having been surrounded - and speak to him, but whatever she was saying was lost to the captain of the guard as Varric spoke.

"Red, shield up!"

Aveline nearly let out an audible sigh at the nickname, lifting her shield over her head as arrows came raining down around her, pelting and tearing through their enemies around the two of them.

Once the last arrow had fallen, Aveline returned to a normal position, and Varric caught up to her. "Varric, what's with 'Red'?" She asked a bit hushedly.

"Its been years since I first brought it up, Aveline." Varric said with a cheeky smirk as he reloaded some arrows into Bianca. "I was just brushing the dust off it from sitting in the closet for too long to see if still sounded 'too common'".

"It does."

"Well now I know."

Aveline shook her head, and noticed Fenris run off into an alleyway after being treated with a health potion by Hawke. Hawke then turned to wave the two of them on and then ran after him, with Aveline and Varric not far behind her.

They followed the path of slavers, Fenris and Hawke being especially brutal, until they reached a warehouse near the docks. Once Hawke and Varric confirmed there were no traps, Fenris rushed in, Blade of Mercy firmly in hand.

Inside were only three slavers, but several dozen elven children, including--

A wail from the elven child stolen from Hightown as she reached out of her cage seemed to spur both Fenris and Hawke into action, Aveline and Varric not far behind at all.

The two smaller men were rogues, and Varric said that he and Aveline would keep them occupied while Fenris and Hawke took out the big guy - a warrior.

The battle was a quick one.

Aveline and Varric perfectly coordinated a set of attacks where Aveline pinned each rogue with her shield, and Varric let Bianca do the talking.

Fenris and Hawke too were well coordinated, but the big guy was tough, his skill and armor letting him match the duo blow for blow. 

Hawke jumped back as Fenris went toe to toe with the man one-on-one, reached into her back pocket, and grabbed a smoke bomb she's brought along at Isabela's suggestion. She made a mental note to thank the Captain later, and threw the bomb on the floor with a warning cry to her crew of "Smoke!", activating it.

The next few seconds were a smokey blur, but there was a thud, and as the smoke settled, Fenris, Aveline, and Varric were greeted with the sight of the man on his back on the floor, helmet off, and Hawke with a knife against his throat.

"Where. Are. The Keys."

The man spit in her face. "Go fuck yourself." With that, he reached for a smaller blade he'd hidden on himself, but Hawke was quicker, slicing the mans throat with ease. No matter, she could pick the lock.

However, as she looked back at her crew after not finding any keys on the man, she realized Fenris had already made his way to one of the cages.

Fenris practically snarled as he fiddled with the lock, before sharply swiping at it and breaking it with his clawed gauntlets, not bothering to wait for Hawke or Varric to pick the damn thing. The second the child was freed, Fenris hurriedly scooped her up into his arms, the child responding in kind by wrapping her tiny arms around her neck as best she could, breaking down into tears as she nuzzled her face into his cheek.

“Is she alright?” Hawke asked frantically, immediately by Fenris’s side. She gently tended to the young girl as best she could, checking what all she could of her for wounds of any sort. “She’s not hurt, is she?”

“No, Hawke.” Fenris said softly, his tone quiet and gentle as he held onto the child possessively. “She’s unharmed. Her tears are of fear and relief if anything.”

Relieved tears of Hawke’s own sprang to life in her eyes, “Oh, thank the Maker…” She hurriedly rubbed them away, before running her hand gently along the child’s back. “Shh, shh Leandra, it’s alright now… Mama and Papa are here…”

Fenris shifted, gently pulling Leandra away from his neck so he could hand her to Hawke, who immediately kissed their daughter’s forehead and held her close, murmuring words of thanks to every god she could think of; names Fenris hadn’t heard Hawke use for years now, not since her mother’d died so long ago. He himself was silent, not having any gods in mind to thank for the safety of his child.

Instead, he opted for wrapping an arm around Hawke, bringing her close enough so that Leandra was comfortably snug between them. His spare arm lifted and he gently rubbed his daughter’s back with one hand - being mindful of the claws on his gauntlet at he did so. She was safe. She was back with them. The mongrels who _dared_ to try to sell his daughter into slavery - the very sort of life he’d wished for her to never have - dead and discarded like the trash they were.

Aveline and Varric looked on fondly, thankful their rescue mission had ended in the best possible way.

“You know,” Aveline began, gazing at the Hawke family with a smile, “I’m surprised Hawke didn’t bring her Mabari along. Damon would have absolutely— Varric what are–”

“Shh!” Varric hushed her, scribbling away furiously at a piece of parchment that he seemed to pull out of nowhere. “I’m trying to listen in, Aveline! I don’t want to miss a word!” He whispered hushedly. “Don’t you realize how great of a story this is going to make?!” 

For once, Aveline agreed.


End file.
